What to Expect at Your Dental Appointment During COVID-19

The COVID-19 pandemic has altered many aspects of our everyday lives. Your daily dental appointments have also improved. The proposal during this time that dentists delay anything but emergency treatments to help prevent the transmission of the infection, conserve masks, gloves, and other personal protective equipment, and prevent patients who need medical care from rushing to crowded hospital emergency rooms.

Your dental office should call you before your appointment to ask you some questions about your current health in order to ensure that patients arrive for their appointments in good health. When you return, they may ask these questions again to make sure nothing has changed.

The workers at your dentist's office can even request that you restrict the number of guests you bring to your appointment. This can include keeping the children at home or encouraging older children to enter the office alone while their adult waits outside during their meeting.

Authorities have provided science-based guidelines for dentists on further precautions they should take to better protect their patients and employees, in addition to the infection prevention protocols they've already practiced. Here's what to expect when you come in for your next meeting.

On the Day of Your Consultation

If your state or city requires you to wear a mask in public, bring one with you to your appointment. You will be asked to wait outside until the dental office is ready for you when you arrive. This would decrease the number of employees in the workplace and the amount of time you spend in close proximity to someone. It's possible that the temperature will be taken as you walk into the office.

You may note that items that people often touch in the waiting room, such as toys or magazines, have been excluded. They can provide you with hand sanitizer and wipe down any things you handle, such as pens, clipboards, or furniture.

When you're in the dental chair, you might find that some things seem different than they did the last time you went. For instance, the dentist could have covered the computer's keyboard with a removable cover so that it could be washed conveniently between patients. Additionally, the dentist could be wearing different security clothing than at prior visits. This may include a variety of caps, facial guards, gowns, and goggles, among other things. These extra precautions help both you and the dentist stay healthy.

Following Your Consultation

After your visit, the team will properly scrub the places where you've been using COVID-19-fighting disinfectants in order to make room for the next user. This reduces the risk of infection spreading to others.

Contact the dental office if you start feeling sick with COVID-19 symptoms within two days of your visit. You may have already become infected with the virus at the time of your appointment, putting anybody who came into touch with you at the time at risk of being ill.

Regular dental appointments are an essential part of maintaining your oral health. When your local authorities authorize dental practices to reopen, make sure to reschedule your dental checkups. Your professional dentist will ensure that everyone participating with your appointment is as healthy as possible.